“Jesus says: ‘You have a home . . . I am your home . . . claim me as your home . . . you will find it to be the intimate place where I have found my home . . . it is right where you are . . . in your innermost being . . . in your heart.’ The more attentive we are to such words the more we realize that we do not have to go far to find what we are searching for. The tragedy is that we are so possessed by fear that we do not trust our innermost self as an intimate place but anxiously wander around hoping to find it where we are not. We try to find that intimate place in knowledge, competence, notoriety, success, friends, sensations, pleasure, dreams, or artificially induced states of consciousness. Thus we become strangers to ourselves, people who have an address but are never home and hence cannot be addressed by the true voice of love” (Henri Nouwen, You are the Beloved).

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“I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love” (Wendell Berry).

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“There is no single expression of discipleship that is prescribed, other than to follow. When I look at my companions on the way, I see such diversity in how we live out our callings. Some people quietly, gently touch the people around them. Some have endured great suffering and even death because of their beliefs. We are teachers, prophets, retail salespersons, trash collectors, clergy. We live in mansions and under bridges.

What unites us all is that we travel together as disciples, seeking daily to follow in the steps of Jesus. Sometimes we lose our way. But always, we are called back to the way of the one who guides our steps through the ordinary and extraordinary experiences of life” (Beth A. Richardson, Soul Care for Spiritual Leaders, Upper Room).

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“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too was a gift” (Mary Oliver).

4 Responses to From My Reading

Here is the Love Led Farm (Robin’s Farm) website: loveledfarm.com. Robin has a blog o that website. Great to hear from you again, TIm. I thought about you just last week! I’d love to hear the “uncanny story.” Maybe you can write a “dreams deferred” post?

Pondering is good, Bob! My take is that on this beautiful metaphor is: when we take suffering out of its box and let God and life teach us its blessings, suffering is a gift.

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Karen Bables

Welcome to my blog about living as apprentices of Jesus! I am passionate about spiritual transformation and about helping others become like Jesus for the sake of others.

One of my favorite quotes is: "Whatever job we get and whatever task we are assigned can serve as a container for grace" (Eugene Peterson in "Practical Resurrection"). I pray that the words and sentences on this blog may also serve as "containers of grace" for its readers.

I ordinarily post on Wednesdays and Saturdays and welcome your comments on any post!